With Fries On The Side
by InsaneAngel22
Summary: A Springles fanfic: AU where Connie is in a high school band and Sasha is the new girl who works at McDonald's. Title and summary of story may change over the course of time!
1. One Day

It was as if he'd been struck by lightning.

The minute Connie Springer laid his eyes on a certain brunette girl, he was head over heels. It was as simple as that.

The first time he'd seen her was when he, Eren, Jean, Marco, and Armin had bounded over to McDonald's after school on Friday. It was something the band did before practice at Connie's house; McDonald's on Fridays.

To be perfectly honest, Connie didn't really like McDonald's. He thought the food was a bit too unhealthy for his taste. But if his friends liked it...then whatever. He'd order medium fries and a Big Mac just for the hell of it.

That fateful Friday afternoon, though, things were different. "Yo, Connie, what do you want? Fries again?" Jean asked, waiting in line before he could place his order.

From the booth behind Jean, Connie muttered a barely audible 'sure'. He was bored to death, and he wanted to leave, but he didn't. Somehow, there was a vibe surrounding him that told him something different was going to happen. Sitting across from Connie were Armin and Eren and seated next to Connie was Marco.

"Whoa..." Eren craned his neck, peeking at something-no, someone, behind Connie and Marco. "Dude, who's that? Never seen _her _around before..." His Carribean blue eyes widened. Connie and Marco turned around.

Taking Jean's order was a perky brunette girl, about sixteen. Her amber eyes were bright and she was smiling like she had no worries whatsoever. She was, in a down-to-earth way, beautiful.

Connie stared.

Eren was right. In the whole population of the small town of Maria, Connie had never seen anybody like her. She was definitely new.

"Do you think she'll go to our high school?" Marco asked. Armin shrugged.

Suddenly, the girl glanced over at Connie's booth. He quickly spun around, hoping she didn't see him staring at her like some creepy stalker. He could hear some laughter-was it hers? Was she laughing at him?

Jean walked over with a receipt in his hand. "Hey, what's going on? Sasha said you were looking at her like she was a crazy person," he sat down next to Connie, tapping his foot impatiently.

"So that's her name," Marco pondered. "Uh, yeah, it was on her name tag," Jean frowned, "What's the sudden interest in her?"

Eren coughed, "Connie."

Connie shot Eren a why-the-hell-did-you-do-that look, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Ehhh, I mean, she is pretty decent," he rubbed the back of his neck.

"If you mean cute by decent, then yes, she is," Armin piped up. Connie turned red.

"Y'know what..." Connie got up and squeezed pass Jean, "...I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Whoo-hoo, that's my bro! You go, Conn-ster!" Eren clapped, and Connie rolled his eyes, feeling his heart leap up into his throat with every step he took.

"Order number...sixty-six? Two orders of medium fries, one McFlurry, two Big Macs, and twenty pieces of chicken nuggets!" Sasha's cheerful voice chirped out Jean's order. "Ooh, I'm getting hungry..." she muttered as she pushed the tray of food farther foward on the counter.

Connie reached for the tray, eyeing Sasha, who was now taking someone else's order. She was taller than him-about two or three inches taller. Close-up, she looked visibly tired of working, though her smile masked most of her fatigue. Connie swallowed, trying to relieve his jumping heart.

He grabbed the tray of food and raced back to the booth his friends sat in. "Aw, come on! Why didn't you go talk to her?!" Jean asked, disappointed. "I can't!" Connie hissed, stuffing three fries into his mouth.

Jean pushed him off the chair. "Get back out there and don't come back until you talk to her!" He warned.

"Why do you have to be so harsh, Jean?" Armin munched on a chicken nugget. "I'm just trying to help him," Jean sipped some soda.

Connie grimaced. _Thanks a lot, Jean. I'm just going to make a fool out of myself..._ He thought, and then walked up to the register. Sasha greeted him with a small smile and blinked twice.

"Yes...?" She asked, patiently waiting for his order. "Uhhh..." he stuttered, tilting his head to look at his friends for a minute. They gave him nods and mouthed 'You can do it!'.

"...So uh..."

"Mm-hm? What do you want?"

"You're...uh..."

"...Hm?"

"...Can I have a mango smoothie and a club sandwich..."

"Sure! Is that all?"

Sasha peered at him with curious eyes.

"Uh...with fries on the side. Medium fries..." Connie mustered.

He bet that Jean was probably mad at him, but he didn't care. At least he stopped himself before looking like a total idiot.

"Here's your order!" Sasha handed him a tray. Connie gave her a half smile and managed to let out a soft 'thanks'.

He trudged back to his seat. Jean shook his head. Armin gave Connie a sympathetic look. Eren was finishing up his soda, and Marco was just sitting there.

After a split second, Marco stood up. "I'll talk to her for you," he offered, and Connie widened his eyes. "Really? You'd do that? Thanks, man!" Connie gave him a low-five and Marco headed over to the register.

He came back about twenty minutes later, full of info. "So her full name's Sasha Braus, and she just moved here from Dauper. I think that's a town in Rose. She's going to start going to our high school next week-she's in our grade," he explained.

_Sasha Braus_... Connie thought in his mind, _...cool name. _

And that was the moment he vowed to himself that he was going to ask her out one day.

One day...

* * *

Weeeeell. That was a lazy first chapter...I hope you liked it! I'm going to try to spice things up a bit later.

-InsaneAngel22


	2. If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn

He'd been thinking about her the whole weekend.

After the band finished their daily routine of feasting in McDonald's, they got into Jean's car and drove to Connie's house. Connie'd been thinking about her so much that his guitar playing was off, causing the band to end practice early and lounge around in Connie's garage, watching old kung-fu flicks and talking about how school sucked.

On Saturday, Connie thought about journeying to McDonald's to see if Sasha was there, but his mother stopped him and he was forced to do chores (a week's worth, to be exact, since he'd been avoiding doing them). At six o'clock, he finally decided to go to McDonald's.

He rode his scrawny, old beat up bike to the only fast food place in the whole town of Maria, parked it in the bike rack, and headed in.

And tah-dah! There _she _was: working again; with the same high ponytail and brilliant bright smile. Connie nervously walked over, attempting to strike up a chat.

"So, uh, hi..." He gulped.

"Hey, there!" She grinned.

"I, uh..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I...uh..."

"...Yes...?"

Connie took a deep breath and belted out a fast-paced answer.

"CanIhaveaBigMacwithfriesontheside...?"

"One Big Mac with fries on the side, comin' right up!"

Once again, Connie had failed to strike up a conversation.

On Sunday, when church was in session, Connie noticed a familiar, brunette high ponytail three rows in front of him. He adjusted his tie and craned his neck out to see if it was Sasha, but it turned out to be someone else. He received a slap on the back of his head from his mother, who was obviously disappointed that her son wasn't paying attention to the pastor.

Finally, Monday came.

Connie had been up all night, awake and sleepless. His alarm clock didn't even get to beep twice because he slammed the snooze button with his hand, threw the covers off his bed, proceeded to change into his school uniform, and ran downstairs for pancakes.

"I packed your lunch for you, now have a good day at school," Mrs. Springer handed her son his lunch (which he stuffed into his backpack), and gave him a hug. "Maaaa, please, I'm gonna be late," he whined, and wriggled out of her grasp. Mrs. Springer rolled her eyes and waved him off.

He ran out the front door, got on his bike, and rode to school, stomach twisting into knots and heart beating fast.

It was the day Connie would finally see her at school.

_I wonder if she has any classes with me, _he pondered as he pedaled at a quick pace. A sudden shriek broke his train of thoughts.

"WATCH OUT!"

A blur whizzed past Connie, almost knocking him off his bike. He wobbled, trying to catch his balance, but ended up toppling over, grimacing in irritation.

"THERE'S ANOTHER BIKE LANE, Y'KNOW!" He groaned, not bothering to lift his head up and check on the other person.

"I'M SORRY! I'm so, so sorry! I accidentally swerved off the other lane!"

Connie noticed that it was a female speaking-and her voice was strangely familiar. He slowly looked up, meeting the eyes of...

"...Sasha?!" He yelped, "I mean, uhm, I'm Connie. Connie Springer. I was, uh..."

"Oh! Heeey, you're that guy who ordered while I was on my shift at McDonald's a few days ago!"

"Yeah, I was! Uh, wait, how do you remember that?"

"Oh, I've got a pretty good memory. So, Connie, eh? Hm, nice to meet you, Connie! I'm Sasha-"

"I know," Connie interrupted, causing Sasha to widen her eyes a little before she figured out how he knew her name. "Oh, yeah, right. My name tag!" She laughed. She then looked Connie up and down.

Connie noticed she was wearing the Scouting Legion High School uniform, and had to blink twice. She looked nice in it; it suited her and he felt his face grow hot.

She held out her hand, and he took it. "We should get to school," he told her as she helped him up.

"Hey, you've got a watch," Sasha glanced at the watch on Connie's wrist before squeaking once and getting on her bike. "WE'RE LATE, COME ON!"

Connie got on his bike and took a peek at the time. Sasha was right-it was already 8:32 AM and school started at exactly 8:30. "Shit," he muttered underneath his breath, and the two teenagers pedaled all the way to school.

Once they reached the front of the school, they threw their bikes into the bike racks (not even bothering to chain them), and ran towards the school doors. "Hey, what class do you have first period?" Connie asked, almost breathless.

"I have History with Mr. Zacharius-at least I _think _that's his name..."

"That means we're in the same class!"

"Hey...that means we'll be late together!"

They laughed nervously, breathing heavily; obviously relieved that they were going to be late together and wouldn't have to face their teacher alone.

The halls of Scouting Legion High School were deserted-there was not a single human being in sight. Lockers were promptly locked, floors were dusted shiny with a wet mop, and classes were in session.

"Uhhh...where's Mr. Zacharius's class?" Sasha questioned as she and Connie noisily stepped up a flight of stairs. "Third floor, first room to the left!" Connie answered, and Sasha's jaw dropped open. "We...we have t-to...run up another flight of stairs?!" She was wheezing now, and her running was slowing down.

"Come on!" Connie grabbed her hand and kept running. Sasha's brown eyes widened and she blinked rapidly as they ran.

It took him the whole trip to History class to realize he'd been holding her hand.

As they stopped at Mike Zacharius's classroom door, both their faces turned beet red-and neither of them could tell if it was because they had bolted up two flights of stairs or because they'd been holding each other's hand.

"Uh..." Connie pulled his hand away, then apologized under his breath. Sasha smiled reassuringly and shrugged. "It's fine."

She reached out a hand to open the classroom door but before she could, Mr. Zacharius had opened it in a flash. He sniffed and then glared down at the two teenagers.

"Sir? Hi, I'm Sasha Braus, and I'm the new student..." Sasha sheepishly and nervously muttered.

Mr. Zacharius glanced at Connie and then sniffed again. "You two are late." He ignored Sasha's comment about being the new student.

"We're sorry, sir-" Connie hung his head down low in shame.

"Detention afterschool. Now get in the classroom."

The two students trudged into the classroom to find silent rows of students sitting at desks. They were stifling laughs or looking sorry for Connie and Sasha.

The only seats left were in the back, and the two made a beeline for them. As soon as they sat down, though, Mike shook his head.

"You two smell like troublemakers. I need to separate you. Ackerman, go sit in Springer's spot. Springer, go sit in Ackerman's spot."

Mikasa Ackerman, in all her flawless glory, lifted her textbooks off her desk, slung her schoolbag onto her shoulder, and proceeded to take Connie's spot. Sasha gave him a sympathetic smile and mouthed, "Let's talk during passing period!"

Connie nodded, gave her a smile, and then sat in Mikasa's original spot.

"Hey, Connie! You finally talked to her!" Eren smirked, giving his friend a low-five under the table. Connie was proud of himself; he didn't make a fool out of himself, and Sasha seemed to think he was cool.

Things were going great.

* * *

Once class was over and practically a year's worth of homework was assigned, Connie and Sasha headed out towards their next classes.

"Who do you have?" Connie asked. Sasha checked her schedule.

"I have...oh! I have Mrs. Zacharius, for English. She's married to our History teacher...?"

"Yeah! She's like, five months pregnant right now. I think she's going to leave soon. But only temporarily."

"Ooh! They're going to have kids?! I love little kids!"

"That's nice."

"Oh, wait, what's your next class?"

"I actually have Mrs. Zacharius too."

Sasha's brown eyes widened and she squealed. "THIS IS GREAT!" She rejoiced, almost smacking Connie in the face. He managed to dodge her arm by ducking.

"Oops!" She giggled, and her stomach grumbled. "Ugh, I'm soooo hungry right now..." She clutched her belly and managed to reach into her skirt pocket. Connie watched as she pulled out a chocolate bar.

"Mm..." Sasha broke off a large piece and stuffed it in her mouth. When she realized Connie was staring at her, she offered him piece. He declined politely and gazed.

_This girl sure eats like she hasn't had food in forever, _he thought in his head.

"So...where's our English class?"

"Hm? Oh, it's right across from our History class."

"Hey, can you tell me more about Mikasa? She was so cool and nice and really pretty. She told me it was nice making new friends."

"Mikasa? Oh, well, she's Eren's sister..."

Even though Nanaba's class took about a minute to get settled into, Sasha and Connie kept chatting outside her classroom. They talked like they were old friends who hadn't seen each other in years.

In five minutes, they knew just about everything they needed to know about each other. And in five minutes, they were also late for class.

Again.

"Whoops," Sasha squeaked as she strode into Mrs. Zacharius's classroom. Nanaba was smiling kindly, wearing a black pencil skirt and a lavender button-up blouse. There was some kind of glow about her-something Sasha couldn't put her finger on, until she remembered what Connie had said.

"Congratulations!" She blurted out, gesturing Nanaba's pregnancy. Nanaba patted her huge belly and let out a small laugh. "You're the new student, right? Sasha Braus?" She made a motion with her hand that told Sasha to find a seat in the classroom.

All eyes were on the perky brunette that had just walked in and congratulated their teacher. Sasha nodded and took a spot next to Christa Renz, who gave her a smile.

"Thank you, and welcome to my class," Nanaba noted. Connie quickly scanned the room to check if there were any empty seats available. There was only one.

And it was next to Annie Leonhardt, the school loner.

Connie could never figure out Annie Leonhardt-she was so very silent and didn't participate much. He'd seen her in P.E., though-and she was a spectacular athlete. Mikasa seemed to have a distaste for Annie; Connie never knew why they had such bad blood between them, because the two girls always fought silently, without any exchange of words.

He'd see them competing in P.E., or glaring at each other at lunch or when they passed each other down the halls.

To be perfectly honest, Annie scared the life out of Connie. She didn't seem like a very fun-loving person, and she never smiled.

Connie gulped as he sat next to her. "Uh, hi, Annie," he mumbled. Nanaba was now talking about going to page sixty-five in the class's textbooks.

Annie gave him a look of sheer boredom before flipping her textbook to page sixty-five.

Connie sighed.

* * *

When lunch finally came, Connie sat with his bandmates in their usual spot-the center of the cafeteria. He and Sasha didn't have third period together, which really bugged him because he was looking forward to having every class with her.

"Dude, I'm proud of you," Jean told Connie, flashing him a grin before getting distracted by Mikasa, who unknowingly flipped her hair in Jean's direction and headed towards her group's table. Jean blushed, turned away, and sipped his coconut smoothie.

Connie noticed that Sasha was sitting with Mikasa's group. Mikasa's group consisted of Christa and Ymir, but now that Sasha was there, they had a fourth member. Connie was glad Sasha was making new friends.

As he gobbled up his food and wondered whether he should have Armin help him with his History homework (meaning, _do _his History homework for him), Marco nudged Connie and handed him an invitation.

"I'm having a Halloween party. I know I don't need to give you an invitation 'cause we're good friends and all, but my mom made me do it anyway. We'll go trick-or-treating two hours into the party and then come back and watch a scary movie," Marco explained.

"A Halloween party, huh?" Connie glanced at the date on the invitation. "Hey, your party's the same day as the Halloween Dance, Marco. Starts at the exact same time, too."

"Wait, seriously?! Aw, shh-"

Marco paused before he could utter the curse word. Bodt had never been fond of saying curse words, even though Jean, Eren, and Connie frequently dropped one or two in every convo.

"Well, whatever. I guess we'll go to the dance after trick-or-treating...? Eh, we'll figure it out later," Marco sighed, and started nibbling on a chocolate chip cookie.

"Who else did you invite?" Connie asked, taking a swig out of his Cherry Cola can.

"Hm? Oh, the whole grade."

"THE WHOLE GRADE?" Connie almost spit his soda out.

"Yeah!"

"How'd you manage that?!"

"I actually sent all these invitations to their mailboxes a day ago. I only gave my close friends invitations personally."

"Cool, I guess."

A Halloween party and a Halloween dance...and Sasha was going to both. At least, Connie _assumed _she was going to both.

"I'll be right back," Connie assured his friends, (though he really meant to say it to Marco, because Jean, Eren, and Armin weren't really paying attention), and made his way over to Mikasa's table.

He slid into a seat next to Christa. "Hey, Connie!" She chirped. Ymir's arm was around her shoulders. They looked quite comfortable.

"Hey, Christa. Ymir. Mikasa." Connie greeted. He turned to Sasha. "Sasha, are you going to the Halloween dance? And Marco's party?"

"There's a dance?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh, I'm definitely going! And actually, Mikasa was just talking about Marco's party before you sat down. I think I'll go there, too. Would be nice to make new friends."

"Hey, do you wanna, like, wear matching costumes? Like, I don't know, ketchup and mustard, breakfast and eggs..."

"OH! That would be sooo cool! Sure!"

Connie hoped he wasn't being weird or pushy by asking Sasha to match costumes with him.

"We still have to figure out which costumes to wear, though. Wanna go look for some after school? There's a shop right across the street from the McDonald's you work at. It's this all year Halloween store. In fact, our school nurse runs it!"

Sasha's eyes widened. "Our school nurse?!" She exclaimed. Christa nodded, "Yeah, Nurse Hanji! She's really cool and fun. Kinda eccentric, too. Oh, yeah, she's also Connie and my Science teacher."

"Wow, she must have a lot of money, working a lot of jobs..."

"Mm-hm! She lives in one of the big houses by Marco's house. I think Vice Principal Levi and her are neighbors."

"Vice Principal Levi? I haven't met him."

"Oh, he's strict. He's always glaring at kids and scaring them. Though I think that's just how his eyes are."

"I don't think I want to meet him anymore."

Ymir interrupted, "Well too bad, because there is a ninety-ten chance you'll run into him in the halls. He's always walking around, making sure shit isn't messed up."

"Ooh..." Sasha made a face before turning back to talk to Connie. "So, uh, afterschool?" She blinked excitedly.

"Uh, yeah. It's a date. I guess." Connie rubbed the back of his neck, face turning visibly red. He got up from the table, almost tripped over the chair leg, and waved at Sasha, who grinned and then stuffed a piece of pumpkin pie into her mouth.

* * *

When school (and twenty minutes of afterschool detention) was finally over, Connie met Sasha by the bike racks. They got onto their bikes and rode to the Halloween store. "Are your parents okay about you going somewhere else after school?" Connie asked.

Sasha nodded as she pedaled. "My dad's working, he won't be home until waaaay later tonight."

"What about your mom?"

Sasha stopped pedaling. Her bike halted with a screech. She sadly looked down before meeting Connie's eyes. "My mom's, um, she's..."

Connie understood. "Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

She shook her head and laughed. "No, no, it's fine. It's not like she's going to appear because we're talking about her anyways."

They continued on until they reached the store. It looked old-fashioned; Connie had only been in it once, when Eren and Armin went to buy scented Halloween-themed candles for Eren's mom and brought Connie along.

There were shelves of candles, decorations, books; you name it. It was like a magic shop. There were even supposedly _magic _wands in boxes on display by the window. And there were racks of hanging costumes; all shapes, all colors, all sizes-anything you needed was there.

"Is Ms. Zoe here?" Sasha wondered aloud, fingering the soft fabric of a bird costume. Connie shrugged. "I think she's still back at the school. I bet someone else is working in her place."

And he was right, because as soon as he mentioned that, a young man in his late twenties or early thirties appeared at the front register counter.

"Er, hello!" He greeted them. He looked a little uncomfortable. The source of his discomfort was the creepy decorations placed around the store, though he was afraid to admit it.

The man's nametag read "Moblit". He was Hanji Zoe's assistant, and the only other worker employed to the shop.

Sasha waved at Moblit and started browsing the costumes. Connie browsed with her. Once they found appropriate outfits, they asked Moblit if there were any dressing rooms. He pointed to the back and the two teenagers ran over as fast as they could.

The first set of costumes they tried on consisted of Sasha dressed like a bottle of ketchup and Connie dressed like a bottle of mustard. It looked too...ordinary.

The second set was Connie as a potato (Sasha mentioned how much she loved potatoes), and Sasha as a tomato. But even those ended up being common.

The third set was Connie dressed like Clyde and Sasha as Bonnie. "This is kinda cool," Sasha twirled around in her Bonnie outfit and pretended to shoot bullets with her hands as pistols.

Connie shook his head. "Nah, I'm not really feeling it."

They sat outside the dressing rooms on a bench and sighed correspondingly. Moblit walked over.

"Are you two kids okay?" He sounded concerned.

"Yeah, we're just taking a break," Connie said, at the same time Sasha said, "We can't decide what to wear."

Moblit cleared his throat and shifted his gaze from one tired teenager to the other. "May I suggest something? Uh, you-" He gestured to Connie, "Come with me. I think I have something that might suit your personality."

Connie let out a heaving sigh before following Moblit. In a few moments, Connie was ushered into a dressing room with a certain costume.

"What'd you pick for him?" Sasha asked, snacking on another chocolate bar. "You'll see," Moblit winked. Connie kicked the dressing room door open with a _bam,_ startling Sasha and Moblit.

"Damn. Surprisingly, I look pretty good."

He was dressed in a red leather jacket, jeans, and a white T-shirt. Sasha jumped up from her seat. "Oh. My. God. You're James-"

"-Dean, yeah." Connie finished.

Sasha squealed and gave him a hug. "Whoa, you look good! But wait, James Dean doesn't...go with anyone..." She huffed and fell back down onto the bench, looking sad.

"Yeah, he does. If I'm James Dean, you're Audrey Hepburn," Connie smirked. "Audrey Hepburn and James Dean...? I don't believe they ever met," Sasha inquired, "Though I do love Audrey Hepburn and her movies...well, I guess."

Her mouth broke out into a huge smile and Moblit beckoned for Sasha to follow him. After being pushed into a dressing room like Connie, she came out wearing a long black dress, her hair in a bun and fake pearls around her neck. "I look like Holly Golightly from _Breakfast At Tiffany's_," she exclaimed happily.

"And how are you two going to pay for these costumes?" Moblit smiled, obviously assuming that the two were going to buy those particular costumes.

"How much are they?" Connie asked, fumbling around the pile of costumes for his uniform, where his wallet was stashed in his left pants pocket.

"Hm, yours costs twenty-five dollars and hers costs twenty-five as well. So fifty."

"FIFTY?!" Connie dropped his wallet as a shiver ran up his spine. He barely even had ten bucks, and now he was going to embarrass himself by not paying for Sasha and him.

"Oh, that's no problem," Sasha reached into her own skirt pocket and pulled out her wallet. She snapped it open and placed two crisp twenties and a ten into Moblit's hand. "There you go! We'll be wearing these out."

She scooped up her uniform, waited for Connie to grab his, and then skipped out. "That was so much fun!" She giggled, and stuffed her uniform into her schoolbag. Connie did the same and nodded. "You, uh, you look really cool," he told her, face growing hot with every word said.

He wondered if it was the sun beating down on him that was making him sweat.

"Let's go to the ice cream shop next to McDonald's. I heard it's 50's themed, and we're like, totally dressed for the part. And oh my God, I am sooo craving for an ice cream sundae," Sasha enthusiased.

They rode over to the ice cream shop and entered it. Immeadiately their nostrils were filled with the sweet scent of chocolate, bananas, strawberries, and other things.

"It smells so good..." Connie heard his stomach grumble. Sasha made a beeline towards the counter and sat on one of the red stools. There was a jukebox in one corner, playing 50's music. The floor was tile and black and white checkered; the walls a light blue with the occasional element of the color pink, and the booths were pristine and clean, as if no one had ever sat in them.

Connie liked it. And he could tell Sasha liked the place too, because she was frantically ordering everything on the menu.

"OOH! OOH, I WANT THE BANANA SPLIT! NO, WAIT, THE FUDGE SUNDAE! NO WAIT, OH MY GOD, I WANT A CHERRY CREAM SODA! WAIT NO-"

Connie laughed at her and she spun around, a little bit pissed. "Hey, don't laugh! If you would just come here and take a peek at this menu, you'd be having a hard time trying to order too!"

So Connie did make his way over to check the menu, and by Golly, Sasha was right. There were too many good things on the menu. The longer he tried to decide what to get though, the more his stomach growled. And it was quite unsettling.

One of the workers noticed and made a suggestion. "You two should get the strawberry sundae, it's our best selling item."

So Sasha and Connie ended up ordering two strawberry sundaes-and when the sundaes were placed in front of them, their eyes widened and their hands grabbed at the spoon in their own individual glass.

Sasha practically choked on her sundae; she was gobbling down loads and loads of ice cream. It tasted so sweet and delicious, she just couldn't stop eating. Connie, on the other hand, had no idea how Sasha could eat something freezing cold without stopping.

He had to pause periodically because he got the occasional brainfreeze-and though he loved the sundae, there was no way in _hell _he was ever going to eat as fast as Sasha.

Suddenly, a familiar song started playing on the jukebox. He knew it as _My Girl _by The Temptations. His mother used to play it on her CD player when he was younger. She'd dance around and clean the house like she had no cares in the world.

Apparently, Sasha seemed to recognize the song too, because she stopped eating, licked her lips, and got to her feet. "My dad loves this song! He used to sing it to me when I was younger. Come on, let's dance!"

"Dance?" Connie got to his feet as well, "Are you sure we're allowed to do that? I mean, I don't wanna get kicked out of here. I was enjoying my ice cream..."

Sasha laughed and took his both of his hands in hers. "Come on, we've got nothing to worry about."

So they danced. In the middle of the ice cream shop. Like they had no cares in the world.

They liked it-they really, really liked it.

And they really, really liked each other.

"Gosh, Connie, I think you're my new best friend!" Sasha cheered as she danced.

Connie's smile grew wide. _I'm her best friend! I'm her best friend! I'm her-_

Being best friends with a girl was one thing. Being best friends with your crush was another.

This meant Connie had just been friendzoned.

And Sasha didn't even know she'd friendzoned him.

Connie stopped dancing. "Hey, we should head home. Mr. Zacharius gave us tons of homework, we have to finish it ASAP," he told her, going back to finish his sundae. Sasha agreed, and finished up her food too.

Connie dropped Sasha off and then went home.

Once he got home, he threw his schoolbag onto the floor, jumped into bed, and sighed. He was close-really close to Sasha. Really close to making a romantic move on her. He just needed to do it smoothly so it wouldn't destroy their beautiful friendship.

He remembered Marco's invitation, and fished it out of his backpack.

"Marco's party. Four days. Halloween dance? Four days," Connie counted.

Four days until he and Sasha were James Dean and Audrey Hepburn.

Four days until their (practically) second date.

Four more days.

Connie closed his eyes, not even bothering to do his homework, and slept.

* * *

_Whew! Okay, that was a long chapter. Sorry if it's iffy. I actually meant to release this chapter before Halloween, but, oh well. Too late. _

_SPOILERS: The next chapter is going to be called "Check Yes Juliet". And it's going to be the Halloween dance/Marco's party, wheeee! Please keep reading and reviewing 'With Fries On The Side'. _

_Thank you so much for your support!_

_-InsaneAngel22_


	3. Check Yes Juliet

Three days went as fast as it could possibly go.

On Tuesday, Sasha asked Connie if he could show her the ropes around Scouting Legion High-and he did.

"Let's start with the school staff. Our principal is Mr. Smith; he never really gets out of his office. I've seen him once or twice roaming around the halls, but that's pretty much all," Connie explained.

The two teenagers were roaming around the halls themselves. About twenty minutes earlier, they had after school detention with Mr. Zacharius (again), due to being late (again).

And since neither of them wanted to go home and get started on the homework they were assigned, Connie and Sasha decided to take a stroll around school when Sasha made her request.

* * *

Sasha made a face. "He wrote me a letter, saying he was 'proud to inform' me about getting accepted into SLHS," she made quotes with her fingers when she said 'proud to inform', "Isn't he, like, one of the best principals in the whole district?"

Connie shrugged, "Well, he manages to keep our school in check even though he practically lives in his school office, so. But I think Vice Principal Levi really runs the place, not Principal Smith."

Sasha's eyes widened and she took a quick look around to see if there was anyone within a 5-meter radius.

When she was sure nobody was there, she leaned in very close to Connie and whispered, "I heard he has OCD. And that he knows everything about this school. About all the kids and their lives and all the shit they do. And Ymir told me that he's also the school janitor, and that's why everything is spotless-but nobody has ever caught him cleaning in a janitor uniform or anything."

Connie stifled a laugh, and Sasha continued to speak cautiously. "For all we know, he could be watching us right now. On a hidden camera or something..." She kept turning her head in every direction, the turmoil building up in her body like a growing fire.

"Those are just...rumours, Sash. Uh...well, no one really actually knows who Mr. Levi really is. Only Nurse Hanji knows him that well. They go waaaay back. I think they met in college or something. In fact, I think most of our teachers went to college together."

"Oh, really?! That's so cool! Wow, this must really be a small town...!"

Connie continued to give Sasha an insight into the characters of their educators. By the time they decided to finally leave school, she learned that Nurse Hanji let her students call her by her first name, that was obsessed with science, and that she was just a little bit bonkers.

She learned that their Music teacher, Ms. Ral, was often being courted by their Art teacher, Mr. Bossard (who, apparently, was not the 50 year old he looked to be, and that in fact, he was only in his 20s).

She learned that Ms. Ral, Mr. Bossard, and Vice Principal Levi were in somewhat of a love triangle-Ms. Ral, infatuated with the mysterious Levi, and Mr. Bossard, infatuated with the spunky, hard-working Ms. Ral.

Sasha also learned that their Math teacher, Mr. Gin, would sometimes call his wife in the middle of class when the students were quietly working and whisper sweet nothings to her, then hang up and pretend like nothing happened.

He did this just in case something unpredictably terrible would happen to him and he would never be able to see his wife again.

Sasha learned that they had three P.E. teachers: Mr. Shadis, Mr. Pixis, and Mr. Schultz. Mr. Shadis was a grumpy old sport-he'd served in the military for quite a while and had no patience with children whatsoever. He worked his students hard; they had to run at least 10 laps before class started. He was the football team's coach.

Mr. Pixis was quite the opposite; he was calm, cool, and collected (though he drank a lot and never really attended to his students) and let his students play any sport they wanted. He was also the basketball team's coach.

Mr. Schultz was new to teaching P.E. (originally, he was the Computer Technology teacher until the school had budget cuts and decided to get rid of Computer Tech). And, conveniently, he ended up being a great P.E. teacher.

He occasionally liked to tell the story about making the winning basket in the last game of the season when he was in high school and there were about 5 seconds left on the clock.

"Everybody's so interesting!" Sasha exclaimed, twirling around like a ballerina, though she was not as graceful and almost tripped on her on feet if not for Connie, who grabbed her arm before she crashed into the pristine checkered floor.

"OH! Thanks, Connie!" She yelped, her face red with surprise. "Eh, it was no problem. Watch yourself," he told her. She rolled her eyes.

"Ha, you sound like my dad. He's so overprotective."

"He sounds like your typical dad."

"He's always giving me life lessons and lectures and stuff. One time, he grabbed his rifle and told me that if he saw a boy really close to me, he'd shoot that boy's brains out."

"That's...nice." Connie gulped and made a mental note to watch himself if he ever met Mr. Braus.

"Did you just gulp?" Sasha made a laughing sound in the back of her throat.

"Uh...no?"

Sasha giggled and twirled around again. "Are there any cliques in this school? Like, you know; populars, artsy-people, jocks..." Her eyes twinkled with mischief.

A line of lyrics echoed through Connie's mind. Wasn't there a song he knew about a girl twirling and twinkling or something? Something with rocketships...?

He groaned internally and promised himself he'd look up that song, then never forget it.

"Yeah, we've got those," he expresssed, breezily, "Actually, Mikasa's the most popular girl in the whole school and she's a sophmore; everyone knows her. We're all sophmores. The seniors don't really care about us, they just do whatever the hell they want. And the freshmen don't really care about us either. Anyways, Mikasa's group, the one you hang out with, is the most popular girl group in the grade."

"Really? I made it into an elite clique...?!"

"I...guess...? Oh, yeah, everybody knows Eren, too. He's the quarterback for the school football team. Jean's also on the football team. Marco and I are on the basketball team. And Armin's in Band. They're my homies, those guys," Connie bragged proudly, and bluffed, "We're kinda...eh, well, the cool guy group. We're sort of a mix."

"They sound like really good friends," Sasha contemplated.

Connie nodded, "Hell yeah, they are!"

"So...any other groups?"

"Eh, yeah, there are the study-bugs, the Student Council, the art-lovers, y'know, your typical high school crowds..."

About half an hour passed and the two were still walking around campus-Sasha, fully knowledgable about who occupied the school, and Connie, glad to help her. Once they realized it was a little bit past 4 PM, they headed out in fear of a scolding from their parents.

"Oh, geez, we stayed at school so late! My dad leaves work early today, so I think he's at home now. Crap! I'm sooo going to be yelled at!" Sasha hopped up and down on alternating feet. Connie pulled out his cellphone and checked for any missed calls from his mother.

Nothing.

"Whew," Connie breathed a sigh of relief. No messages from his mother meant that she was not the least bit worried about her son getting into any trouble and was letting him have a sheer taste of independence.

"OOH! VENDING MACHINES!" Sasha squealed, and rushed over to the white vending machines practically stuck together by the front doors of the school.

"I DIDN'T SEE THESE WHEN WE WALKED INTO SCHOOL YESTERDAY! OR TODAY!" She was basically drooling at the sight of food-chips, chocolates, gum, and soda.

"Uh, Sash. That's because we ran into school yesterday. And we ran into school today, too."

"I can't believe you guys have these! We didn't have these back in Dauper High School! Our school was so poor, we didn't even have our own library..." She inspected every inch of one vending machine before patting her skirt and pulling out her wallet.

"Do you want anything?" She asked Connie politely. He shook his head, "Nah."

She shrugged, sang, "Your loss," and inserted a five dollar bill into the vending machine. Sasha punched in a bunch of numbers and out came two bags of Cheetos, a Three Musketeers chocolate bar, and a pack of gum.

"Mm, mm, mm," She opened up the Three Musketeers bar and popped the whole thing into her mouth. She opened up a bag of Cheetos next, and popped some of them into her mouth too.

Connie turned red. Her gluttony was kinda cute, in a way.

"Let's go," Connie told her, and they raced to the bike racks and rode home.

* * *

On Wednesday, Connie bombed his Science test. Sasha bombed her Math test, and the two laughed about their grades (while crying inside, because their parents were going to kill them).

On Thursday, Connie and Marco practiced basketball in the gym. Connie was so absorbed in the one-on-one game between him and Marco that he didn't realize Sasha was sitting on the bleachers, chatting with Armin and watching Connie play.

When practice was over, Sasha stood up, kicked her legs out like a cheerleader would (though she was no cheerleader herself and ended up doing things awkwardly), and chanted, "CONNIE! COONNIEEE!"

Connie himself turned a bright red color and they rode bikes home together. Riding home together had become a regular ritual in their lives.

Finally, Friday came.

Connie's stomach was doing flip-flops as he jumped out of bed and ran downstairs for breakfast. Today was the day-the party, the dance-today was Halloween.

Scouting Legion High School were letting their students wear their costume to class, so after Connie gulped down his bacon and eggs, he rushed back upstairs and threw on his James Dean costume.

Without even saying a measly 'goodbye' to his mother, he ran out the front door, hopped on his bicycle, and rode to Sasha's house. She was already outside on her front porch, waiting for him. Once she saw him, she waved hello, straightened her Audrey Hepburn dress out, and ran over.

"Listen, I can't ride a bike wearing this dress, I don't want my underpants to show...so could I just, y'know, get on your handlebars?" Sasha asked with almost-puppy eyes.

Connie blushed and muttered a 'fine' beneath his breath. Sasha squealed and hoisted herself up onto his bike handlebars, and then held on tightly.

She was a little heavy for Connie, which made the trip to school longer, but it didn't matter (though Connie swore his face was red the whole entire time).

When they got to school, the halls were crowded with zombies, witches, ninjas, princesses-you name it-every possible costume anyone could ever think of was worn by the students of SLHS.

First period was long and draggy-apparently, Mr. Zacharius was supposed to be dressed as a werewolf (hence his ripped jeans and ripped red plaid shirt), but he had left his werewolf mask on his desk and didn't wear it the whole period.

Second period flew by quickly, because Mrs. Zacharius told they students they could chat as they worked on writing a narrative. Sasha and Connie proceeded to chatter aimlessly, commenting on people's costumes and making fun of the costumes that just didn't work so well.

"PFFT. Oh my God, check out Millius," Sasha pointed at a sandy-blonde boy sitting two rows in front, "I think he went a little too far..."

Connie craned his neck to take a peek. He almost fell out of his seat when he saw Millius Zermusky wearing an overdose of black eyeliner, white face-paint, and a fatsuit.

"What the hell is he supposed to be?" Connie snorted, and Sasha shrugged. "Probably Tweedledee from Alice in Wonderland or something."

They also made fun of Jean, who kept fidgeting at his gelled up hair-he was dressed like a zombie, and he'd gelled his hair back a bit except it wouldn't stay.

Once, during second period, he got so frustrated with his hair his face turned beet red and he looked like he was about to cry. This cracked Sasha and Connie up so much that they started crying themselves. Marco, who was also dressed as a zombie, had to calm Jean down.

Lunch soon came and Mikasa's group decided to sit at Connie's table. Mikasa was dressed like the Black Widow, complete with a spandex-like suit and a gun holster on her waist, though she still kept her signature red scarf and didn't bother to slap on wig.

Ymir and Christa were dressed like Gatsby and Daisy from The Great Gatsby; Ymir clad in a tux and Christa in a sparkling bronze and white dress and a feathered headband in her blonde hair.

At Connie's group, Jean and Marco (as previously mentioned) were dressed like zombies-ripped shirts, bloody makeup, you name it. Eren was dressed like Jason Voorhees (minus the machete), and Armin was dressed like Luke Skywalker.

"Wow, you guys all look so cool!" Christa chided nicely. Ymir took one look at Jean's frazzled hair and snickered. "Nice hair, horse-face," she grinned. Jean gave her a look of pure evil and then clutched at his head. Marco made a sympathetic face and started patting his friend on the back.

Suddenly, the cafeteria grew quiet. Someone-someone important had stepped in. Connie turned to look at the front of the cafeteria. No, not just someone, people. Two teenagers his age, he recognized as student council members, a tall, stern yet blonde man in a Captain America costume, which he recognized as Principal Smith, and...

Connie's gaze fell on the five foot three, glaring, dark-haired, silver-blue eyed, vice principal-Levi.

Everyone's eyes grew wide when they saw Vice Principal Levi. He was dressed in a maid outfit with a broom on his hand. Connie tried so hard not to laugh. He held his breath and looked around. He could see other students holding in their breaths too-some with their hands over their mouths, their faces red.

But they knew not to burst out laughing when the Principal and the Vice Principal was around.

"The members of the student council would like to make an announcement," Erwin piped up, and then let Mina Carolina take the floor.

"Hi, everybody! I'm Mina Carolina, and I'm part of the student council and the dance committee. This is my colleague, Thomas Wagner!" The girl who was speaking had pigtails and big eyes. She made a gesture to the blonde-haired boy next to her.

"We're here to make a quick announcement-we've decided to add a very special event to the Halloween Dance tonight!" Thomas interjected. Mina nodded. She held up some flyers and started passing them out while talking.

"We are proud to announce that there will be a Halloween Queen and Halloween King! These titles will be awarded to the best dressed students out there! Now, now, don't go home and start changing your costume to something completely over the top-what you're wearing is just fine!"

Thomas, also passing out dance flyers, then added, "Student council members will be walking around the dance checking out costumes, and whoever is wearing the best (at least, to that council member's taste), will go on the Possible Winner list. The Queen and King will be awarded once the dance is over. They'll get crowns and a whole lot of candy."

"So...come to the dance! Tickets are only five dollars at the door, and if you pre-ordered at the Student Store, you're good. Alright! You can go back to eating now!"

Mina and Thomas skipped off to somewhere and Erwin left as well. Someone in the front of the cafeteria meekly raised their hand. "Uh...sir? Vice Principal Levi...?" The small voice was coming from Nack Taez, who was similarly dressed like Millius. Connie came to the conclusion that the two friends decided to go as Tweedledee and Tweedledum for Halloween.

Levi slightly cocked an eyebrow and turned to face the student. "Yes...?" He questioned, a little bit impatient. His arms were folded across his chest and he was tapping his foot ever-so-slightly.

"Uh..." Nack paused, swallowed his spit, and mustered out, "Why are you wearing that?" He gestured to Levi's maid outfit. Levi took in a deep breath and exhaled after a few moments.

"I lost a bet with Nurse Hanji. That's all I'm going to say." He shifted his weight and then left the cafeteria with a grim look on his face.

Once he was gone, the entire student body erupted into laughter. Sasha snorted and almost choked on her burger, Connie fell out of his chair, and Jean had his face buried in Marco's shoulder. Marco was turning redder and redder as this was going on.

No one bothered to wonder if it was because his best friend was practically burrowing his face into his armpit or because of Levi's outrageous get-up.

* * *

Third period came-Sasha and Connie went their separate ways. She happily skipped over to Science class with Mikasa, Armin, and Marco, while Connie trudged over to P.E. with Jean and Eren.

They had the worst, most impatient, most cantankerous P.E. teacher ever: Mr. Keith Shadis.

"10 LAPS BEFORE WE START, GO GO GO!" He yelled after all the boys and girls had changed into their P.E. uniforms and came out of their locker rooms.

Connie cringed and started running, with Jean following behind him and Eren in front. "I'm going-I'm going to have a heart attack," Connie wheezed as he ran for what, the fifth or the sixth time around the track?

"I-I wish Mr. Shadis had a heart attack," Eren practically choked out, jogging as fast as he could.

"KEEP RUNNING!" Mr. Shadis shouted as the boys passed by him. Connie rolled his eyes and hoped they'd run out of class time by working out on the track.

Fourth period-it consisted of Nurse Hanji giggling about the bet she and Vice Principal Levi had made the day before. "Come on, Ms. Hanji! Won't you please tell us?!" Eren pleaded but she just put a finger to her mouth and sighed.

"I'd tell you, but I can't because I swore to Levi I'd keep it a secret," she laughed whole-heartedly, obviously amused at her class's persistence, and pushed her glasses up.

"Aww, okay then..." the class murmured their words of disappointment.

Connie shook his head. Sometimes, even adults were kind of immature. (Though he had to admit, Nurse Hanji was one smart woman, thinking up of a certain bet and making sure Levi lost it).

Finally, school ended. Connie bolted out of his classroom and met up with Sasha. Her cell phone was in her right hand and a pumpkin-shaped cookie was in her left. She looked nervous; sad, even, and she was looking down at the ground.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her, noticing her sudden gloomy aura. She snapped her head and sighed. "Um...let's go talk outside," she said, stuffing her cookie into her mouth and her cellphone into her backpack. Sasha grabbed Connie's arm and pulled him towards the school exit.

"Okay, so tell me what's wrong now," Connie fidgeted with the sleeve of his red leather jacket. Sasha sighed once more before elaborating.

"I...I don't think I can go to the dance, or Marco's party tonight. My dad suddenly changed his mind and told me I couldn't go...I can't even go trick-or-treating tonight! I'm going to have to give out candy to all the little kids...this totally sucks, my dad is such a downer," she explained.

"Wh-what?! What the hell...?!" Connie exclaimed, adding in, "You already bought your costume! And your dance tickets!"

Sasha nodded and tilted her head a little, "Well, I can't do anything about it now. Once my dad sets his mind on something, he stays with it. He's stubborn like that." She looked at Connie and his disappointed yet shocked face. "There'll be other dances and other parties, right? I mean, come on, you're not gonna let me hold you back are you? Hey, promise me you'll go and have a good time."

She knew he wasn't going to go to the party or the dance if she didn't. Connie mumbled, "Well I won't enjoy myself, but I think I can try to."

Sasha patted him on the shoulder. "That's the spirit! Now, come on, take me home before my dad starts going on a calling rampage, ugh. He's coming home early tonight."

Connie took Sasha home with a heavy heart. What the hell was he going to do now? He'd promised his best friend he would go to both events...

Connie suddenly had an idea as he went home and got ready for Marco's party. He texted Sasha:

**Connie: I have a plan. A really good idea 2 get u 2 go 2 the party & the dance.**

She texted back with light speed.

**Sasha: Oh really? Wat? :o**

**Connie: I'll help u sneak out of ur house.**

**Sasha: :o How r we gonna do that w/out getting caught by my dad?**

**Connie: Easy. U tell him ur gonna go to bed early & go upstairs.**

**Sasha: So I pretend 2 b asleep?**

**Connie: Yeah. Does he check on u when ur asleep tho?**

**Sasha: Hell no, he usually falls asleep on the couch in the living room. It's rare that he ever checks up on me, I don't think he's done that since I was about 10 or 12 or something.**

**Connie: K. Great. Ur room faces the house across the street, right?**

**Sasha: Yeah! So ur probs gonna walk up to the front of my house, right? And then text me when you're there?**

**Connie: Yeah, & I'll help u climb out ur window. So uh, u in? Check yes or no.**

**Sasha: Hahaha, lol. I'm def in, I check yes. But u better catch me when I jump out of my window or I will kill you.**

**Sasha: Hahaha, jk. But I probs will be mad at u for a little while**

Connie grinned. Sasha had agreed to his plan! "So I'm not a complete and utter moron," he said to himself as he got up to bid his mother goodbye and ride his bike to the party.

Sasha's excuse about going to sleep early was only valid at about 8:30. The party started at 5:30 PM, and Sasha's dad was definitely not going to believe his daughter wanted to sleep that early in the evening.

So Connie went to the party and spent the first three hours impatiently watching the clock and mingling with his peers. It was a cool party, yes, since Marco's house was so big (it was a mansion, really), with two stories, exceeding space and a double set of stairs.

* * *

A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling by the front door and white furniture was scattered all across the house. The house was decorated with hundreds of colorful Halloween-themed lights and decorations. It was dark and the music was loud, but everyone liked it like that. Teenagers danced and ate and sneaked in the occasional booze.

"Hey, Connie, why do you keep looking at the time like that? Is my party boring or something?" Marco asked. Connie checked the time. Approximately 8:30 PM. "No, your party's fine! I just...I have to go do something, I'll be right back!"

He left the Bodt residence and pedaled his bike as fast as he could over to Sasha's house. There was a single light shining from the inside of it-presumably from the TV. Connie tiptoed over to the front porch and peeked in the window. Sasha's dad, a buff looking man with a beard, was fast asleep and snoring on the couch.

Connie ducked down to make sure he wouldn't be seen and texted Sasha.

Connie: Sash, I'm here.

A loud creak from above startled Connie. Sasha had opened her window. "Hey, Conn!" She giggled and then proceeded to lift herself out so that her legs were dangling out from the window. "DON'T LOOK!" She tried concealing her underwear and failed because though the street lamp light was dim, he could still see her navy blue and white star-printed drawers.

He blushed and tried not to look. "Well come on, then! I'm gonna count down from three! When I get to 1, jump, okay? And I'll try to catch you!"

Sasha glared. "You'll catch me," she corrected, leaving out the 'try'. She sucked in her breath and got ready to jump.

"Ready? 3...2...1, fall now!"

She jumped into his arms, and he toppled over. Goddamn it, this girl was heavy!

He hadn't realized he'd said that aloud until Sasha shrieked, "Excuse me?! What the hell did you just say?!" She squirmed in his grip and he lost his footing.

"AHHH!" They both shrieked and fell on the ground, lying side by side. After a minute, they burst out giggling, until Sasha went, "SHHH! My dad might hear! Come on, let's go!"

She took Connie's hand and they ran over to Connie's bike. She sat on his handlebars and they made their way to Marco's party.

"There's gonna be food over there, right?" She asked.

"Tables of food, even," Connie replied.

In the fresh night air they sped past cars, houses, and trick-or-treaters until finally, they got to Marco's mansion.

The two teenagers squeezed past the many dancing, costumed people, laughing, making their way to the tables of food. "CHEETOS, OH MY GOD!" Sasha screamed and dramatically threw herself at the bowl of Cheetos on a green-clothed table. She looked around before taking a handful and stuffing them into her mouth.

Connie made a face. "At this rate, you're gonna choke on those and die, Sash," he frowned.

She rolled her eyes, "Oh, puh-leeze, I'm gonna be fine!"

Connie was about to talk again when somebody grabbed him by his arm. "Hey!" He grunted and spun around. It was Jean, and his brows were furrowed. "Come on, Connie, we have to do a performance!"

Connie's eyes widened, "Right now? Dude, I don't even have my guitar!"

Jean dragged Connie away from the tables of food; away from Sasha. "Marco has extra instruments in his garage, he's already brought them out. We already set them up."

Jean lead Connie over to where the rest of their band was. Armin was doing warm ups on his keyboard, Eren was testing out his drums, and Marco was tuning his turquoise bass guitar.

"Testing, testing," Jean ran up to the microphone stand and tested out the mic. People stopped to stare and Marco made a gesture for the DJ he'd hired to stop the music.

Connie picked up a red Fender and started strumming it. "What song are we doing?" Connie asked. He really wanted to get back to Sasha.

"We're gonna do 'Sugar, We're Going Down' by Fall Out Boy first...and then we're gonna play a couple of Panic! At The Disco songs," Marco explained.

"Hey, wait, can we do a song I wrote?" Jean asked, and Marco glanced at him curiously. "Which song?"

"You Have Beautiful Black Hair."

Eren burst out laughing, "You mean the one you wrote for my sister? Oh my God, she's gonna kill you..."

Jean shot Eren a death glare, "Shut up, Jaeger." Eren rolled his eyes, "Only when you do, Kirschtein."

Marco sighed. "Fine, we can do that."

Jean grinned and then spoke into the mic.

"Hey, hey hey, everybody? How do you like this party?"

The guests cheered positively in response.

"Alright, alright. So, hey, I'm sure you all know that me, Marco, and these guys are a band, right? Yeah? Alright. Today we're gonna sing you a couple of songs, hope you enjoy!"

Marco yelled into his mic, "We are Squad 104, and we are here to rock youuu!"

Cheers erupted and the band started playing.

Connie glanced around the room as he played. No sign of Sasha.

He sighed.

It was going to be a looonggg night.

* * *

_Whoo, originally, this chapter and the next chapter were supposed to be merged together, but then I realized it would be too long, ahhh! So yeah._

_Did you guys know that I'm practically naming all the chapters in this fanfic after songs? (Except for Chapter 1, I couldn't find a song for Chapter 1). This chapter is named after the song "Check Yes Juliet" by We The Kings. The previous chapter was named after "If I'm James Dean, You're Audrey Hepburn" by Sleeping With Sirens. They're pretty good songs, try an listen to them if you can!_

_SPOILERS: The next chapter is going to be named "Rocketships and Radios" after the song by Nickasaur! And the chapter after that will be called "Sweet Perfection" after the lovely song by Never Shout Never. Stay tuned!_

_Thank you for reading and reviewing! Keep doing so! 3 You guys rock._

_-InsaneAngel22_


	4. Rocketships and Radios

About one minute into the second song Squad 104 started playing, Connie spotted Sasha in the crowd-she was chewing something, (possibly candy because her arms were full of chocolates and lollipops), and she was watching the band intently. There was a tiny, content smile on her face as she pushed through the crowd to get a front row view at Squad 104.

"_Whoa-oh-whoa, Mona Lisa, I paid to see you frown...!" _Jean sang into the mic, Marco backing his vocals up. Connie plucked at the strings on his guitar, stealing glances at Sasha who was now standing a few feet away.

She looked absolutely amused with her amber-brown eyes and her small smile. Connie grinned, kept tabbing on his guitar, and on that night, Squad 104 swore that their music was better than before.

"Alright, alright!" After about three Panic! At The Disco songs were played, Jean cleared his throat and announced, "This last song-I wrote it-and it's dedicated to the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, Mikasa Ackerman."

Mikasa emerged from the crowd, her eyes wide in surprise. She looked like she didn't want to be where she was right now, but stayed anyways, just for the hell of it.

"This is 'You Have Beautiful Black Hair'," Jean wrapped up his intro and started strumming his guitar aggressively. After a few measures, he started singing.

"_I kn-know a girl, who's fine...oh yeah...and darlin' don't you know, I wish you were, wish were mine..."_

Mikasa turned a little red and Sasha, who was standing next to her, started giggling.

_"Y-you've got the moves, and the name, and you play a hard game...oh yeah...and darlin' don't you know..."_

Jean's eyes fell on Mikasa and he sang his heart out.

_"Y-y-you have beautiful black hair, yes you do, the moment I saw you, I knew it was true, you're the one I want, yeah, you..."_

Sasha kept giggling and Mikasa cracked a tiny smile, a little bit freaked out but satisfied. Jean looked over a Connie and gave him a nod. It was time for his guitar solo.

Connie took a deep breath and played, hoping he wouldn't mess up.

He held that breath until after his solo was over. After Connie's turn, Marco played a few fills on his bass guitar.

Soon enough, the band's mini-concert was over, ending with a huge _bang!_ by Eren and his drums. "THANK YOU, SLHS!" Marco greeted, and everyone in the house screamed and cheered happily.

"YOU'RE AWESOME!"

"You guys are sooo cool!"

"You guys, like, need to be signed onto a record label. Like, now."

Squad 104 had grins from ear to ear as they cleaned up their instruments and resumed with the party. Connie rushed over to Sasha, who had finished every single food item she'd had during Squad 104's performance.

"HEY, SASH!" Connie was practically out of breath, "What'd you think of our...our band?!" Sasha playfully smacked him on the shoulder. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE A BAND! You failed to mention this little detail when we were getting to know each other," she feigned irritation.

"Well? What'd you think of it?" Connie waited patiently for her answer.

"It was...fucking amazing," Sasha told him, "You guys are really good. Damn, you have to teach me how to play guitar one day."

"Teach you to play guitar...? ...Sure!"

"Oh, yeah, also, I can't sing. At all. I make people's ears bleed, but what the hell. I like to sing anyway."

"Cool."

* * *

After two hours of mingling and dancing, (and embarrassing themselves with horrid dance moves), Connie and Sasha left the party. "What time is it? I think the school dance is still going on, and I don't wanna waste my five-dollar tickets," Sasha told him as they stepped out of the music-blaring house.

"Lemme check," Connie told her, and checked his phone. "It's only 9:24, the school dance doesn't end until 10 PM."

"Wow, do school dances usually go on this late?"

"Yeah, at our school."

"Damn."

Connie got on his bike, Sasha on his handlebars, and they rode to school, in the cool night air. When they finally got there, they rushed into the cafeteria and glanced around. Decorations filled the room, lights were dancing, and students were dancing.

From the corner of the cafeteria, Connie spied Nurse Hanji in a mad scientist get-up and maid-clad Levi next to her. She was laughing aimlessly at something, and it didn't seem to amuse Levi, because he never cracked a smile.

Then again, Connie had never seen Vice Principal Levi smile before.

He saw Mina Carolina and Thomas Wagner looking for the best dressed students. They were dressed like Morticia and Gomez Addams.

Somewhere in front of the corner where Hanji and Levi were, Annie, dressed like Bonnie, and Bertholdt Fubar, dressed like Clyde, were simply just standing there. Connie wondered why Annie would dress up and come to a dance if she wasn't going to move at all.

She looked bored, and Bertholdt was sweating with a red face. Reiner Braun came up to the two, dressed like Iron Man, grinning from ear to ear. Connie knew Reiner well, he was a good friend, and his best friend was Bertholdt.

Connie tried piecing things together...

...Whoa. Did Reiner set Bertholdt up with Annie? His thoughts were interrupted with a semi-hyper Sasha.

"Ooh, oh my God, I love this song!" Sasha shrieked over the music and pulled Connie into the center of the dance floor with her.

"Wh-what?!" Connie shouted, trying to hear her. She shook her head, "Never mind!"

Connie's ears perked up when he realized what song it was.

_"Don't stop, won't stop, gon' get it girl, everyone in this galaxy just wants to see you twirl, one step two step, now walk it out, don't be shy and baby, show 'em what you're all about..."_

There it was. The song with rocketships and radios. The song itself was called 'Rocketships and Radios'. Connie peered at Sasha and felt his heart race as fast as it could. She looked beautiful-though her dancing was not-and he hated the butterflies he got in his stomach.

Her auburn-brunette hair shined in the colorful spotlights and her eyes twinkled like stars in joy. Connie couldn't help but stop dancing for a minute to gaze at her.

Sasha did some weird dance moves (similar to Taylor Swift's), and Connie went retro-he did the hustle, the Egyptian dance, and pretended to limbo. People stopped and stared at the two idiots on the dance floor; ha, they thought they were such good dancers.

No.

But they were having fun, so no one pointed that out to the two. Sasha shook her head from side to side and swayed her hips, all sassy-like, and then started twirling around.

_"Oh, my God, this girl's a sta-ar, I'll build a rocketship just to take me where you a-are...don't stop won't stop, gon' get it girl, everyone in this galaxy just wants to see you twirl..."_

Connie was almost out of breath after the song finished. So was Sasha, and they put their arms around each other to make sure they wouldn't fall over.

"Y-y'know, I think I've had enough dancing for tonight...whaddya say we go trick-or-treating?" Connie wheezed out. Sasha nodded, "Oh, my God, yes, let's go!" She took him by the hand and dragged him out the cafeteria.

"Wait, we don't have any bags to put our candy in!" She exclaimed. Connie shook his head, "Don't worry, we'll stop by my house first and I'll go grab some paper bags."

So they went over to the Springer household, Sasha waiting outside by Connie's bike, and Connie throwing stuff around inside the house, trying to find bags.

He finally found some, kissed his surprised mother on the cheek goodbye, and then ran out. "Come on, leave the bike. Let's go!" He handed her a bag and they ran.

* * *

Man, it was like a fairytale, y'know? From the beginning when Connie helped Sasha sneak out of her house-like Romeo & Juliet or something. And now Romeo & Juliet were running away-

_Wait, didn't those two die or something...? _Connie's dreaming was cut short by the fact that Romeo & Juliet's love story ended in tragedy. _Fine, we won't be Romeo & Juliet. We'll be...we'll be James Dean and Audrey Hepburn, yeah! Or even Morticia and Gomez!_

He and Sasha went from door to door, collecting candy and chocolate. Their costumes were barely recognized (only the occasional elderly realized who they were), but they didn't mind at all. All that mattered was that they were getting a lifetime's worth of candy.

"Aw, yeah, I can't wait to dig into this shit," Connie enthusiased. Sasha didn't answer, her mouth was already full of Jolly Ranchers and Kit Kats. She gave him a thumbs up and they started laughing like crazy.

As they were walking to houses to receive their candy, they talked-about all the pretty things in life, and all the shitty things in life. How much school sucked, the kinds of bands they liked, and the things they wanted to do when they got older.

Sasha mostly talked about her parents.

"Back when my mom was still alive, my parents would fight _constantly_, and I absolutely hated it...one night when I was about five, my mom came to my room, gave me a peck on the cheek, and said she was going to come back for me. But she never did."

"Oh...I'm sorry, Sash."

"Heh, don't be. It's the past. So, yeah, my mom left my dad, ran away with some other guy in our town, and never came back. A few days after she left, my dad turned on the television and there she was. Her picture was on the TV with that other guy. Apparently, they got into a car accident and were killed instantly."

"...That's...terrible."

"It's...yeah..."

Connie patted Sasha on the back and she shrugged a little. "My parents...my parents are the reason I'm afraid to fall in love. I'm scared I'll end up like them."

Connie's heart fell. If Sasha was afraid to fall in love...damn, he needed to break through a whole lot of walls to capture her heart.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Connie reassured her. "Really...? Well...thanks, Connie," Sasha gave him a smile of gratitude.

"Hey, so, tell me the reason _why _you eat so much? I never see you without food, seriously, Sasha," Connie changed the subject.

Sasha laughed, "Food was scarce in my old town, so. We basically had to fight for a single piece of bread."

The two kept talking and knocking on doors to get candy, until Sasha peeked at the time on her cellphone. "It's midnight, I think I should go home now," she told Connie.

"Sure, let's go. We've got enough candy to last us a lifetime anyway," he grinned, and they started walking to Sasha's house.

"Oh, shit. We had a plan for me to get out...but we didn't have a plan for me to get back inside without my dad knowing..." Sasha gulped once the two teenagers were standing outside her house.

"Uh...is your back door open?"

"No, I don't think so...y'know what, I'm gonna have to climb this tree to get in..." She looked at the sycamore tree that towered over the two.

"I'll wait until you're up in your room," Connie offered. Sasha nodded and joked, "Just don't look at my underwear, you pervert." They laughed and then she began to climb the tree.

She went up higher and higher until she was at the same height as her window. Looking down, she gave Connie a thumbs up so he wouldn't be worried.

She jumped into her open window with a loud _thud _and tumbled into her room, shrieking. Connie shrieked too, and then waited for Sasha to appear at the window.

She did. "I'm fine! I'll text you, okay? Goodnight!" She bid Connie farewell and then slammed her window closed.

Connie's phone beeped as he started the walk home.

**Sasha:** **Thanks 4 the awesome night. :D That was fucking cool.**

**Connie: No probs. See u tomorrow.**

**Sasha: At McDonald's?**

**Connie: Sure. With the rest of the guys. Since we didn't get 2 go 2day.**

**Sasha: K. Goodnight! 3**

**Connie: Night, Sash.**

* * *

When Connie finally reached his house, his mother greeted him at the front door and pulled his ear. "Connie Springer, where in the world have you been?! It's past midnight-oh, I see, you were out with that girl, huh?"

Connie's face reddened, making Mrs. Springer laugh. She stopped pulling his ear. "Tell me more about her, please? What did you do? Did you kiss? Did you-"

"Maaaaaa. Stoooop." Connie drawled, and then climbed upstairs. "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Alright, baby, but you still have to tell me how your...date was."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you, Mom?"

"Oh yes, I am. Goodnight, honey."

Connie rolled his eyes at his mother's affectionate nicknames, burst into his room and flopped down on the bed.

"What a night..." He muttered to himself, and then fell asleep.

* * *

_Ooh, two chapters published! I was moving so I couldn't update very much. So here's a gift, two chapters in one day. Aha. Happy Thanksgiving! As previously mentioned, the next chapter will be called "Sweet Perfection". I'm practically basing all these chapters on the song's they're named after...ahaha. _

_Please keep reading and reviewing! Also, I'm going to write A Choice With No Regrets fanfic. So keep an eye out for that too. Thank you so much! 3_

_-InsaneAngel22_


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